The Rural poor, the private sector and markets: changing interactions in southern Africa

One of the central tenets of much current development thinking in southern Africa is that market-oriented strategies and private sector involvement must be the basis for future economic growth. This has underpinned structural adjustment and economic policy reform policies in the region over the last decade or more. It also underlies the argument for encouraging external foreign direct investment (FDI) as a motor for growth. However growing evidence suggests that such a strategy has not paid off. Economic growth rates have been disappointing, private, and particularly foreign, investment has been limited, and employment in the formal sector has fallen dramatically.1 Structural adjustment and market liberalisation have clearly not delivered the developmental benefits claimed of them, and people's livelihood opportunities have, ft seems, declined over the same period and their levels of vulnerability have increased. The increasing recognition that the standard neo-liberal prescriptions were not having the expected benefits, especially for poor people, has resulted in some rethinking about how best to redirect the benefits of globalisation and economic reform towards the poor, and how to offset some of the losses. Thus ‘pro-poor growth strategies’, ‘making markets work for the poor’ and ‘growth for redistribution' have become well-worn slogans. However, the practical and policy measures required, whereby the benefits of an engagement with a globalised economy, investment by the private sector and liberalisation privatisation measures can result in poverty reduction, remain vague.A number of issues arise. For the sceptics, questions are raised about the degree to which the turn to a 'pro-poor' markets approach is simply rhetorical gloss, added to the discredited neo-liberal paradigm, or actually a genuinely new policy perspective in its own right. It is important to differentiate between broad economic policy reform objectives (which, with some nuances, remain largely in the standard neo-liberal form) and sectoral policies which contain explicitly pro-poor elements. While retaining the argument that market liberalisation and external investment are key, such policies may include some strategic elements of state- directed intervention which boost the access of the poor to new markets and investment opportunities. It is this stance, where the state intervenes to improve access and for particular groups of people, redressing to some extent the imbalances caused by the lack of level playing fields of existing markets, which potentially sets a pro-poor perspective apart

Evaluation of the regional program of analysis and communication on Community - Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) : 1999 - 2002; final report

Consultant's reportProject number related to IDRC support could not be determine

Impact of community-based forest management and joint forest management on forest resource base and local peoples' livelihoods : case studies from Tanzania

Copublished with Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of ZimbabweCASS/PLAAS occasion paper seriesIn recent years, there has been a move in eastern and southern African countries from centralised and state-driven management of natural resources towards decentralised and people-centred based regimes. In Tanzania, the inception of the 1998 national forest policy has led to institutionalisation of community-based forest management (CBFM) and joint forest management (JFM). A number of years later, it is worth assessing the impact of this policy on the resource base and people’s livelihoods. This paper uses two case studies of forest reserves under participatory forest management to explore this issue. Secondary data was gathered from various studies conducted in those two forest reserves. In addition to the analysis carried out by the various authors, further analysis involving content and structural analysis and synthesis of documented information was done. The results of the study revealed that CBFM at Duru-Haitemba had a positive impact on the resource base and people’s livelihoods – the forest is healthier than before and people are satisfied with the products they collect from the forests. On the other hand, the impact of JFM at Kwizu Forest Reserve has not yet produced desirable results since illegal activities are still rampant and, apparently, forest exploitation has increased instead of decreasing. The reasons behind the success at Duru-Haitemba and relative failure at Kwizu are varied, but are most probably linked to ownership of resources and law enforcement. Clear definition of rights, returns and responsibilities and adequate incentives are important for sustainability of people-centred management of natural resources

Community-based natural resource management in the southern Africa region : an annotated bibliography and general overview of literature, 1996-2004

This bibliography is aimed at collating information relating to community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) in the southern African region across different sectors and themes. It was primarily compiled to offer material support to researchers participating in the 'Breaking New Ground' - People Centred Approaches to Natural Resource Management and Development Programme - a joint venture of the Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of Zimbabwe (CASS) and the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape (PLAAS). It is also aimed at providing a resource to practitioners, policy- and decision-makers and researchers in southern Africa

Impact of people-centred approaches to natural resource management on poverty reduction

"Debating land reform, natural resources and poverty"Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is often promoted by governments, NGOs and donors as a means of reducing poverty in rural communities, particularly through income-generation from various natural resource-based activities. CBNRM is increasingly being adopted as a means of poverty reduction in the national development strategies of most southern African countries. But can these high expectations be met? Evidence shows CBNRM is able to contribute to combating poverty in terms of empowering local communities, helping to buffer them against shocks, and building natural capital, rather than putting large amounts of money into their pockets. But CBNRM approaches do not reach their full potential because of policy weaknesses and gaps in implementation. That said, the lack of clear criteria and indicators means that the contribution of CBNRM is not measured, and has probably been underestimated. CBNRM cannot combat poverty on its own – its impact is partially determined by larger political and economic conditions, and it does not address all the causes of poverty. CBNRM should therefore be a part of a broader, multi-faceted national strategy to deal with poverty, and it should be strengthened through further policy reform and improved implementation

Policy and institutional dimensions of integrated river basin management : broadening stakeholder participatory processes in the Inkomati River Basin of South Africa and the Pangani River Basin of Tanzania

Copublished with Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of ZimbabweCASS/PLAAS occasion paper seriesIn recent years, water governance has undergone a remarkable paradigm shift. Old notions of water resources management dominated by a supply-orientation and reliance on civil engineering science and technical solutions to water problems have been discarded in favour of a ‘softer’ governance regime that embraces stakeholder participatory processes. This new regime is strongly underpinned by neo-liberal approaches that emphasise, inter alia, decentralised management structures, a ‘rolling back of the state’ from the frontiers of management and development, and treating water as an ‘economic good’. Consequently, most countries (including Tanzania and South Africa) have initiated water sector reform programmes that stress comprehensive river basin management based on integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles, user involvement in management, cost recovery and sustainable resource use. Within this new paradigm, many elements of conventional community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) approaches are quite apparent. Drawing mainly from the assessment of secondary data, this paper uses case studies from the Inkomati River Basin of South Africa and the Pangani River Basin of Tanzania to scrutinise the IWRM paradigm and its relevance to the evolution of CBNRM. It questions the strength of policies and policy-making processes which have led to the emergence of IWRM as the dominant discourse in the water sector. It identifies critical factors for genuine stakeholder involvement in decision making at the basin level in order for more relevant and effective policies to be made. It focuses on conflict resolution as an important issue around which dialogue and negotiation platforms can revolve. Stakeholder participation in river basin management is depicted as a complex, sociopolitical process that must consider and reconcile a range of interests across sectors and users in the basin. This paper posits that while forums for dialogue are often presented as fair and inclusive, there is a need to note that when they are designed and controlled by those in positions of power, they may become artificial – including certain stakeholders, and excluding others

Challenges and prospects for trans-boundary fisheries in Lakes Chiuta and Kariba

"Debating land reform, natural resources and poverty"Community-based conservation (CBC) is a prominent feature of conservation and development policy and practice in southern Africa. It is a generic concept defining different configurations of controlling access to and use of land and natural resources in southern Africa – and has led to the development of policies and legislation in support of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) and co-management arrangements. Both concepts largely revolve around the premise of devolution of control and management authority over natural resources to facilitate conservation and use of, and local access to, resources. A focus on regional economic integration has offered an opportunity for extending the experiences of CBNRM and comanagement to resources occurring along international boundaries. Different trans-boundary natural resources management (TBNRM) programmes have been initiated in southern Africa. The experience of two inshore fisheries on Lakes Chiuta and Kariba highlights the challenges of TBNRM, especially at local resource users’ level. A proposal for meaningful engagement of local resource-dependent people is suggested in the form of a trans-boundary commons regulated through co-management institutions. Broad implications of this suggestion, including terrestrial TBNRM progammes, are briefly discussed

Outcomes of community engagement in community-based natural resource management programmes

"Debating land reform, natural resources and poverty"Although the last century has witnessed exciting strategies in resource management in the form of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), these developments are more incremental than revolutionary. CBNRM falls into the wider development debate on the role of the state, particularly in the context of the development of Africa. Stakeholders, located at different levels along the international, national and local continuum, have differing views on this debate based on their experience and ideologies. These positions determine the form and practice of CBNRM, through negotiation, contests, collusions and intrigue. Case studies of the implementation of CBNRM in Zimbabwe and Botswana show both opportunities in terms of community benefit and wildlife conservation, and risks in the form of domination of communities by NGOs, the state and the private sector

Management of some commons in southern Africa : implications for policy

"Debating land reform, natural resources and poverty"Profound transformations in communal land tenure systems are taking place in parts of southern Africa that have resulted from decades of interventions, particularly the shrinking of the commonage through capture of extensive tracts of lands by private interests. Some policies have been into place that envisage improved management of common rangeland resources through privatisation. However, empirical evidence is lacking as to what extent these may have been successful. Traditional management systems in communal areas have been broken down to the extent that many of them are now more characteristic of open access systems. An alternative to meeting the challenge of managing resources in common rangelands is to develop community-based rangeland resource management systems that build on the strengths of traditional management approaches. Therefore a call is made on the use of indigenous knowledge systems and empowering communities to manage their rangeland resources, in order to prevent open access and promoting improved rangeland management and more sustainable livelihoods

Rangeland tenure and pastoral development in Botswana : is there a future for community-based management?

CASS/PLAAS occasion paper seriesCopublished with Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of ZimbabweThe paper addresses transformations in land tenure systems prompted by decades of government and donor-driven programmes and policy in Botswana, that have resulted in shrinking commonage/communal land through the exclusion of extensive tracts of land transferred to private interests. In particular the implementation and impacts of two policies are examined: the Tribal Grazing Lands Policy (TGLP) (1975) and the ongoing National Policy for Agricultural Development (NPAD) (1991). Approaches such as those established by Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) are one route to promote sufficient recognition of collective rights to prevent further loss of commonly-held lands to private interests